Toronto is ‘only city’ that can host new international defence bank: Ford

Ontario’s premier and Toronto’s mayor are making another push on the city’s bid to serve as headquarters for a new international defence bank. 

“There’s only one city in Canada that can truly provide everything the bank needs, and that city is Toronto,” said Premier Doug Ford during a Tuesday morning appearance at Toronto Metropolitan University. 

Late last month, it was confirmed that Canada was chosen to host the multinational Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB).

The financial institution, modelled in part on the World Bank, will provide NATO members and allies with “long-term, low-cost financing for defence, security and resilience initiatives,” according to a federal release. 

With as many as 3,500 direct jobs hanging in the balance, five cities — Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver — have put themselves forward as possible hosts, with the federal government set to make the final call. 

“Toronto is where Canada’s financial leadership lives,” said Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow on Tuesday. “We are ready to welcome this institution to our city.” 

‘We have the assets here to compete’: pension plan CEO 

Chow and other speakers stressed Toronto’s high concentration of bank headquarters, universities, STEM graduates and prominent law and accounting firms.

“The stock exchange is here. The bond rating agencies are here. It isn’t to disparage [others], it’s just a fact. We have the assets here to compete,” said Blake Hutcheson, CEO of the OMERS pension plan. 

Ford, along with Ontario Shipyards CEO Shaun Padulo, also emphasized the province’s industrial capacity.  

“Ontario is the heart of Canada’s industrial base, and as pressures build on traditional sectors in Ontario, such as automotive, there’s a real opportunity to transition skilled workers,” said Padulo.

Ford says the province has yet to receive clarity from Ottawa on what criteria will be used to choose the host city, though the province has already chosen a downtown building that could serve as the bank’s interim headquarters before a permanent location is picked out. 

Ford says he won’t attack other bids

Other provinces are also busy making their cases. 

At a similar event in Montreal, a group representing key members of Quebec’s financial sector joined several politicians in lobbying for Montreal as the natural choice for the bank’s headquarters. The group touted its strong financial industry and the presence of dozens of international organizations. 

Ford says he won’t attack the bids made by other cities, and denied that Ontario politicians are invoking the threat of a Quebec referendum to undermine Montreal’s case. 

“I say go Habs. You know, Montreal is great,” said Ford. “This is a process that the whole country is going through and the Prime Minister will have to make a decision.”